Attitudes and beliefs around HIV and AIDS stigma: the impact of the film "The sky in her eyes"
Year: 2005
Type: dissertation
Abstract: This research explored cultural perceptions of HIV&AIDS with students at the University of the Western Cape and attempted to understand how these perce ptions of the disease reinforce stigma and stigmatising attitudes towards people living with HIV&AIDS.This study investigated HIV&AIDS stigma as a social phenomenon and analysed the socio-cultural and historical roots of HIV&AIDS stigma.The methodology utilised to collect data integrated the components of a short film "The Sky in Her Eyes", as a triggering agent to move deeper into the discussion on HIV&AIDS stigma.Questionnaires with open-ended questions and focus group discussions were also employed in the research.The data collection phase took approximately one month to complete.The focus group discussions with students revealed that the lack of stigma recognition by those whose behaviour is perceived as stigmatizing by those who have been affected by HIV&AIDS is among the main reasons why stigma persists.The students are not aware, or refuse to acknowledge that their own actions of laughing and the use of derogatory words perpetuate stigmatising behaviour.Moreover, the lack of correct knowledge about non-sexual modes of transmission combined with fears and cultural perceptions of the disease further maintain stigma.Cultural perceptions that encompass the explanation of the origins of HIV&AIDS as witchcraft or as punishment from God further reinforce stigmatizing behaviour.Furthermore, the norms and taboos about sex, such as explanations of HIV&AIDS in terms of purity and pollution or associations of HIV&AIDS with deviant behaviour make it difficult to talk about sex, adding further to stigmatising attitudes and behaviour.The findings also revealed that individual experiences of stigma are intertwined with other contextual stigmas of age, class or gender.The questions that emerged out of this research call for urgent further investigations in the field of HIV&AIDS stigma.The implications of this work are wide ranging for intervention programmes dealing with HIV prevention as well as for creating a more supportive atmosphere which will allow people living with HIV&AIDS to receive the acceptance, support, care and treatment which is their right.vi
Author: Igor Lesko
Language: English
Subfield: Infectious Diseases
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: University of the Western Cape
OpenAlex ID: W68691248